14 years of experience in providing legal advice to clients on project finance, corporate finance and private equity transactions in Africa, North America and Latin America. Axel is currently General Counsel of Themis. Prior to this, Axel was the acting General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Africa50, the African Development Bank-sponsored initiative to create a game-changing African infrastructure investment platform combining project finance and project development functions. Before joining Africa50, Axel was a principal legal counsel in the private sector operations division of the African Development Bank’s Legal Department in Tunis, Tunisia. Axel began his career as an associate in Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy Project Finance Department in New York and London. He has represented commercial banks, development banks, export credit agencies and multilateral agencies and sponsors in domestic and cross-border limited recourse financings covering a variety of sectors Axel holds a BA (cum laude) in African Studies and Sociology from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a JD from Columbia Law School in New York, NY.  He is a citizen of Benin, Togo and the United States.